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As I sit in the House Chamber preparing to override a number of gubernatorial vetoes of the FY ‘13 budget, the governor himself is in Chicago campaigning for the president’s reelection. Before leaving town, the governor held a press conference to explain his vetoes. When referring to electronic benefit transfer cards (EBT), the governor said, “This notion of humiliating poor people has got to be separated from how we make a program. . . work and work well.” I think the governor missed the point of the EBT card reform.

Plain and simple, the current system, to use the governor’s verb, “humiliates” the taxpayer. The reforms passed by the legislature are a step in the right direction to restoring integrity to our public benefits system. I find it personally and politically humiliating to find out that EBT cards have been and continue to be used in places like strip clubs, tattoo parlors, and even on cruise ships! Wake up, Governor. The more you continue humiliating the honest taxpayers, whom by and large do not oppose contributing to reasonable transition programs for our citizens in need, the more you risk losing public support for the program as a whole.

You may have heard Massachusetts was ranked 28th in CNBC’s 2012 list of America’s Top States for Business. This ranking was down from last year’s ranking of 6th, the biggest year-to-year drop of any state. This is the same week the Governor decided he wasn’t able to attend the National Governor’s Conference whose theme is “Growing States’ Economies,” because he needed to stay in Massachusetts for the end of the legislative session, yet he found his way to Chicago to speak on behalf of President Obama’s reelection. Oh, and by the way, the chairman of the National Governor’s Association is from Nebraska, the new #6 in CNBC’s ranking.

In the lyrical words of Alanis Morissette, “Isn’t it ironic, don’t you think?”

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By Rep. Randy Hunt

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Without a doubt, there are two questions I'm asked more often than any others. The first is "No kidding? You're our state rep?" Perhaps those are technically two questions, but they're run together as one. And the word "kidding" is usually substituted with an unprintable expletive.

The humbling part of this interrogative is realizing that not everyone is as tuned into the political scene as those of us who wake up every morning eager to read the latest Capitol Hill and Beacon Hill scuttlebutt. Casual followers of politics tend to pay more attention to national issues than regional and local ones. I've never run into anyone who knows the names of the 13 Barnstable Town Councilors who can't name the Vice President of the United States.

I suppose the other message in this anonymity is that there's always more one can do to get out and meet with the district's residents. There is a tendency to start thinking that "everyone knows me" when, in fact, few actually do.

The other question I'm consistently fielding is "How are things going in the Statehouse?" At least there's acknowledgement that the questioner knows I'm commuting to Boston for work. There might be some confusion whether I'm there as a state representative or a tour guide, but the recognition that I'm doing something up there is uplifting for me.

When I respond to the question, however, I quickly realize that it falls into the same category as "What's up?" or "How are you doing?" No one who asks these questions is really looking for a comprehensive answer. They're looking for "great" or "fine" but not, "We're wrestling with House Bill 4500, which is very nuanced and potentially transforming."

I'll continue to reach out to constituents via newspaper columns, my blog (just google "Randy Hunt blog"), social media, and being out in the district to meet and discuss things with you. Oh, and if you're at the Statehouse, I'm a pretty good tour guide.